Biology of the Barguzin sable

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:47

The history of our state is inextricably linked with fur-bearing animals. An ideal example is the Cap of Monomakh, trimmed with the fur of the Barguzin sable. His story is very sad. She shows how an entire species can be pushed to the brink of extinction due to unrestrained and predatory hunting.

This is an extremely agile and very strong animal. Prefers cedar and fir forests, loves the proximity of rivers and lakes, often ambushes squirrels in the densest tree crowns.

Even if there are many individuals of the Barguzin sable in the forest, the uninitiated will not even see their tracks, not to mention the animals themselves.

Thanks to wide paws, richly trimmed with dense fur, even deep and loose snow does not stop him. The animal arranges lairs in hollows, often requisitioning a squirrel farm for this, having previously eaten by the owner himself.

Despite the lack of pronounced daily activity, it prefers to hunt at dusk and in the morning. A characteristic way of movement of the Barguzin sable is by jumping. That is why its traces are somewhat similar tohare.

Sable practically does not make any loud sounds, but it can purr, strongly resembling an ordinary domestic cat. The animal is omnivorous, but prefers mouse-like rodents, of which its diet in some years consists of 70-80%. He is a real thunderstorm of voles and gray mice.

Does not disdain squirrels, climbing the highest trees after them. In one year, the population of these predators can eat more than one million squirrels, reliably preventing their unlimited distribution. If the snow is deep and loose, hares often become the prey of the Barguzin sable, which in such conditions cannot escape.

It is also known to attack hazel grouse and capercaillie, but does so periodically as birds are not the mainstay of its diet.

Strange as it may seem, the Barguzin sable loves wild berries, eating kilograms of blueberries, lingonberries and cloudberries. So he makes up for the lack of vitamins and provides his digestive tract with fiber. In addition, sables love sweets, which has been repeatedly proven when observing domesticated individuals.

You should know that the hunting territory of one animal alone is about 200 hectares (!) of the forest. In mountainous areas, the animal annually makes huge vertical migrations. Every five to seven years, sables begin to leave their places en masse and move 150–200 km from their former possessions. This is due to the periodic depletion of the food supply.

Mating takes place in June or July, and pregnancy is characterized by the presence of a frozen phase. They puppies in May, and in the southern regions - in April.

Cubs are born tiny: their weight does not exceed 40 grams. After four months, the babies reach the size of an adult. They begin to breed only from two years old, and the active childbearing stage lasts up to 13-15 years.

On the territory of the young USSR by the 30s of the last century, almost all of their population was exterminated. Tough laws were established, as a result of which, in our time, the Barguzin sable (whose photo is in the article) has almost completely restored its numbers.